Windhoek
Namibia has not only beaten the SADC target of 67 percent coverage, but it has also been ranked among the top three countries in the region to swiftly switch over to digital transmission.
“End of March, we already achieved our target of 67 percent population coverage with digital signal, which was ahead of the June 17, 2015, international deadline. As of today, we are standing at 70 percent population coverage with zero signal, which is higher than the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Not only did we beat the deadline, but also the international target. So we are among the top in the region to have meet the deadline,” said an upbeat Director-General of the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) Albertus Aochamub.
Therefore, he revealed, Namibia is ranked among the top three in southern Africa that have embarked on the Analogue Switch Off (ASO) exercise and to date NBC viewers have acquired more than 50 000 decoders at a subsidized price.
The decoder, which is a one-off payment, costs N$199.
The two other countries are Tanzania, which only has 25 percent of the population with television coverage, and Mauritius, which has same coverage as Namibia. When asked how Namibia did it, Aochamub said the broadcaster used financial resources at their disposal and also the same technical team, which has for years been running the national broadcaster.
Further, he said, “We agreed on the timeline of the roll-out and stuck to those deadlines, it’s that simple, that’s all we did.”
Adding that they did not use any foreign expertise in the digital migration from analogue. The last town to be switched early this month before the set target was Katima Mulilo, meaning there are no longer analogue transmitters in Namibia. He also highlighted that some countries in the region do not prioritise radio, unlike Namibia that prioritises radio as part of the digital migration roll-out.
At the moment, 98 percent of the Namibian population has access to radio.
“With DTT [Digital Terrestrial Television], all the recorders make access to radio possible. You can pick up Rukavango radio service in Keetmanshoop and you can also pick up Silozi service in Opuwo through your TV set. Unlike in the past and also unlike many parts of the world,” he stated.
He said the NBC decoder price remains unchanged. He also said government has subsidised the decoder to make it affordable, otherwise it could be anything up to a N$1 000.
Selected viewer categories such as pensioners, people living with disabilities and war veterans can acquire the digital devices at half the retail price.
The broadcaster has engaged a number of distributors for its decoders throughout the country to ensure that decoders are available in all areas with DTT reception.
NBC currently has seven channels on its DTT bouquet with more channels to follow.
At present, three channels are locally and internally produced by NBC inclusive of NBC1, NBC2 and NBC3, two channels are from local Namibian broadcasters, one is a locally owned and produced music channel named THISTV as well as one locally produced educational channel, EDUTV.